


Love You To Want Me

by rainbowslovehl (Larrymateforlife)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Liam and Zayn are just mentioned, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, No Smut, Pining, Tattoo artist Harry, Teacher Louis, but what am i without fluff and miscommunication eh, even though it's not that important, honestly it's a blink and miss, it's basically extreme fluff, just a bit, louis in braces, there's serenading involved, why is that not a tag?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 02:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15402948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larrymateforlife/pseuds/rainbowslovehl
Summary: “Remember when you had that collection of braces? I think about four of them in different colours?”Louis nodded, pursing his lips before he searched the bottom of the closet and found one of them. He didn’t know where the rest of it had gone but he was sure it was there somewhere. Honestly, his closet could be the entryway to Narnia. The one he grabbed was the red one, the one which usually went with his red jeans. He looked at Niall from the corner of his eyes, noting his excited expression. “They were lying unused for so long. Do you think that I should wear all of them and see if it suits me?”“YES!” Niall exclaimed and jumped up and stood with his hands raised in the air.Niall coerces Louis into doing 'spring cleaning', which is basically cleaning their flat which leads to Louis finding the pair of braces he used to wear back in early Uni days. Harry, Niall's bandmate has a strange but visible reactions to the braces.





	Love You To Want Me

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a lot different from what it is now. This is purely sappy and I have no excuse. When the prompt was revealed I knew I had to write about something previously unused that he would use and of course that was braces lmao. It was supposed to be something 'hot' but since my area of excelling is more of fluff, I decided to go with that instead so I hope y'all enjoy.  
> Also for americans, braces are also called suspenders.  
> Disclaimer for anyone who is very passionate about twink Louis, this is not for you cuz it's not about twink Louis at all. Also, clothes have nothing to do with sexual preference. Just saying.  
> Title is from I'd love you to want me by Lobo and is incidentally the song Harry sings the first time to Louis.
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge that a group of us are participating in for the prompt "Unused". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/unused/works), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works) or find the masterpost for this year’s challenge here.

 

If it was up to Louis, he would ban all forms of physical exercise and take no part in it. So yeah sure he did do exercises sometimes and went to the gym but that was just something to help him be fit. Just in case someone happened to challenge him to a footie match or ‘how many push-ups can you do’ type of a thing. Otherwise he hated doing anything that required physical labour. Did this even count as physical exercise? Well, either way he was being forced to do physical exercise that he clearly hated.

“Cleaning your own flat does not count as physical exercise, Louis,” Niall pointed out before he shook Louis more vigorously on an early Saturday morning. “Also you’ve agreed to this so come on!”

“You forced me into it, Blondie,” Louis mumbled as he buried his head deeper underneath his blanket.

“No longer blonde.”

“No longer care.”

Niall made a frustrated sound and Louis smiled. He hoped his friend and flatmate would stop pestering him and give up. But he knew the lad, knew how insistent he was when he wanted something. Niall knew how to annoy people into giving in to his demand. It was one his most annoying habits. He especially knew how Louis was, so the chance of him leaving was little to none. Niall’s second most annoying habit would be his bathroom singing, if someone asked Louis about it. Niall had a good voice, sure, was a part of a local band too who had fans despite performing in open mic at the local pub. They got so popular in just a few weeks that the manager asked them to perform every Saturday night and even paid them in drinks. It was pretty fun, Louis had to admit. But in the bathroom, Niall didn’t sing, he wailed Irish folk songs and sometimes even yodelled shrilly. The walls of their flat were shrill so Louis often woke up due to the banshee like screeches if he happened to go to bed before nine. (He shouldn’t face judgement from Niall over sleeping early, since he did have to deal with sweet, but loud primary school students. It made anyone tired.)

“Just go away!”

“But you promised!” Niall insisted and Louis only had a second to grab on to his sheets before Niall tried yanking them away. He needed his precious sleep on a Saturday morning that he didn’t get the fortune of any other day. On top of that, he had had a long week and said so as well but Niall didn’t want to hear it. “It’s just for a day. It would take three hours max if you hurry up. Also, it’s ten am Louis so it’s not that early. Wake up I’ve even gone out and brought breakfast for you from the deli down the street.”

“Food?” Louis asked, looking up hopefully from his covers. Niall relented in the sheet pulling and gave him a pleading look instead which had Louis sigh and push the sheets away himself. His best friend gave him a bright grin that bordered on smug and Louis just rolled his eyes. “Alright don’t look so proud of it. It was the food that convinced me, not you.”

“Yeah yeah sure,” Niall said flippantly and patted Louis’ butt before he got off the bed. Louis stifled a yawn on the back of his hand and bid his sleep goodbye. He pushed himself up and reached for his phone on the bedside table and yeah, it indeed was a little past ten. So not so early then. It was a shame since he wouldn’t have to kill his friend just yet. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, mate. Just get up and make your complicated tea. I sure as hell won’t make that for you even if I’m trying to persuade you into agreeing.”

“You just pour the milk first!” Louis deadpanned and rubbed his eyes sleepily. Despite what his friend said, Louis’ tea wasn’t all that complicated. But Niall still rolled his eyes in disagreement as he headed towards the door. “And I better hope you’ve bought my favourite muffin.”

“I did.”

Louis stood up and stretched his limbs. Giving his warm bed one sad last look, he strode towards his door. He could have done with a few more hours of sleep but oh well. How did it lead to this?

Well a week back, Niall had this supposedly great idea that he decided to badger Louis with.

“Spring cleaning!” Niall announced as he had thrown the door open to Louis’ room and strode in like he belonged there. Louis hadn’t given him a second glance, just pushed his glasses up his nose and kept grading his students’ papers. It was the obviously more important thing there. “Oh listen to me. See I have this great idea, okay? We can clean the entire house together, which means clean the floors, dust the tables, and just clean everything. You can rearrange your closet and we can donate the clothes we don’t use anymore to the homeless people. Think about it.”

“Hmm I thought about it and,” Louis started, sighing as he finally looked up his friend. Niall looked very excited and Louis was clearly not. “No I can’t. Sorry.”

“Please let us spring clean our house!”

“It isn’t spring, Niall.”

“Please I beg of you, Louis, help me!”

Louis sighed heavily and took off his glasses and placed them on the table. He then pressed his fingers on his closed eyelids and took a deep breath in before he turned. Niall’s face no longer looked bright and there were hints of frustration all over him. Louis was really pained that he was being disturbed right now. “What's the matter, really? Is it the OCD thing? Always knew it would harm me in the future.”

“It isn’t the OCD thing,” Niall said before chuckling nervously. He pinched the bridge of his nose before he groaned and dropped face first on Louis’ bed. Louis watched him quietly, knowing there was some bigger issue bothering his friend and his papers could wait. Probably. “It’s just... you know the press release for our client is drawing close right? And everyone on our team is in a right frenzy and things are bound to go wrong I know it. It’s such a big thing and I’m just, I’m fucking shitting bricks here. So if we clean our house Saturday, then it will distract me from the next Tuesday okay. At least would stop me from going out of mind on the weekend.”

Louis gave Niall a rueful smile, even if the boy wouldn’t see it with his head buried in Louis’ pillow. He understood stress all too well and he knew how stress affected Niall and made him go crazy. He questioned why Niall had gone into PR but hey, each to their own. So he walked up to his friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Alright okay, we’ll go with your plan.”

“Really?” Niall asked, blue eyes wide and hopeful. Louis nodded once, making his flatmate smile. “Thank you so much Louis, I’m so glad to have you.”

He was up in a second, pulling Louis in a tight hug. Louis chuckled, knowing he was to never mention the real reason again lest it spiked Niall’s anxiety so he conveyed his support in the hug.

“Now lemme go, Irish I need to grade papers. Work stuff. Let go!”

Niall chuckled but he let go and bounded out of the room quickly, as if he was never there in the first place. Louis was the best, most supportive friend ever and Niall should appreciate him more.

But that just led to Louis cleaning the bathroom, muttering under his breath about how he should have been the bad friend instead.

See, after they had finished eating breakfast and feeling a little more awake, Niall had dropped on him that he only had two rooms to clean. Louis was happy, until he heard more.

“Yep your bedroom and the bathroom!” Niall said cheerfully as he placed both their plates in the sink. Louis blinked at him, staring impassively over his cup. He had just starting to get onboard with the idea of cleaning their house and now he was assigned the two worst rooms in their flat. He was back to hating everything and Niall.

“They are small rooms, Louis, don’t be so lazy.”

It wasn’t the laziness anymore, it was the rooms.

Louis didn’t like it one bit as he scrubbed the floor, but hey at least their bathroom wasn’t slippery anymore. He washed his hands vigorously with soap before giving the bathroom an appreciative glance. It was a job well done but he still had his closet to clean, which would take hours since he had a lot of clothes and he hadn’t used a lot of them lately. It was mainly because he had to dress ‘sensibly’ at school so a lot of his band t-shirts were in the back of the closet by now. He placed his hands on his hips as he observed the contents of his closet. He really didn’t understand how it would help Niall if Louis cleaned his room but he was a good friend. So he allowed himself a long, loud sigh before he got to it.

Louis was right, since it did take over an hour for him to just pull his enormous amount of clothes out of the closet. He never knew he owned so many clothes but here he was, almost buried under a pile of them. There were a lot many he hadn’t used in a long time and had to discard a lot of them. Louis went through a lot of phases in Uni. And there were a lot of embarrassing ones that he never wanted to repeat so all the clothes from that time went in the ‘to go’ pile as Niall called it. Niall was currently lounging on Louis’ bed as he watched. He offered no help whatsoever, claiming that cleaning the living room and his own bedroom had tired him out. He had the kitchen to clean, which wasn’t necessary since Niall did clean the counters from time to time but he wanted to complete the process. Louis didn’t understand it one bit.

“Remember that month you only wore striped shirts?” Niall piped as Louis picked up another striped shirt from the back of the closet. It was a plain white shirt with red stripes, something that was once his favourite. It was a little tight on his torso really, which showed off his figure but he got tired of it too. He hadn’t had the heart to discard it so it went in the pile he had nicknamed ‘stuff I’ll never use but will never lose either’. Niall called it the crap pile, since it held most of Louis’ striped shirts. “Wow I can’t believe you thought you looked good in that.”

“I did look good in that,” Louis corrected as he folded the shirt and placed it neatly on the floor. It was true. For a while it was his trademark shirt, paired with a bright red pair of jeans. And as soon as he remembered it, he spotted the pair under another striped shirt (wow he had a lot of them left) and pulled it out. It felt like a century ago when he wore it, even if it had been around five years. Probably. He showed it to Niall, who cackled as if he found the jeans funny. “I used to love this.”

“Oh mate I remember.” Niall rolled on to his front, propping himself on his elbows and his lips quirked up at the image he produced. “You used to look like a fire engine from a distance and it was so easy to spot you. And people found that look hot when I personally thought you looked like a cute twink. It was so funny.”

“Why couldn’t I just be a hot twink?” Louis asked, raising his chin defiantly. He was never a ‘twink’, not really but it was annoying when everyone assumed him to be. Looking back, that might be why he stopped wearing this outfit since it was too much of people assuming his sexual preferences based on his clothing. Their prejudices showed when he switched to wearing jean jackets and getting tattoos and everyone found it hot in a different kind of way. He was suddenly no longer a ‘twink’ when everyone swore he was before. The topic still annoyed him but it didn’t get under his skin anymore. “Besides, it’s iconic. But I wouldn’t repeat that phase.”

Niall hummed, just to fill the silence. Louis looked at the jeans in his hand and back up at Niall. His friend’s eyes widened and Louis knew both of them had the same thought. “Do you think I could still fit into this?”

“Could you?”

Louis cast the jeans a curious look. “I think so. I mean I could try it on.”

Niall hummed contemplatively. He pushed himself up until he was sitting upright, eyebrows raised. “Remember when you had that collection of braces? I think about four of them in different colours?”

Louis nodded, pursing his lips before he searched the bottom of the closet and found one of them. He didn’t know where the rest of it had gone but he was sure it was there somewhere. Honestly, his closet could be the entryway to Narnia. The one he grabbed was the red one, the one which usually went with his red jeans. He looked at Niall from the corner of his eyes, noting his excited expression. “They were lying unused for so long. Do you think that I should wear all of them and see if it suits me?”

“YES!” Niall exclaimed and jumped up and stood with his hands raised in the air. The excitement was contagious and Louis laughed as well, as he kept his jeans, braces and t-shirt in a different pile. “But please wear it after you finish rearranging your closet, alright? You’re almost done with it anyway.”

Louis cast his jeans a rueful glance before nodding. “Hmm alright. Not like I can crouch too much in those jeans, yeah. A bit too tight on me.”

“Would be.” Niall rubbed his hands together before he jumped over Louis’ piles of clothes and towards the door. He laughed when he finally reached the door, cheering as if it was an achievement. Louis shook his head fondly. “Oh and me mates are coming to practise in the afternoon. We got a show in the evening, you know.”

“Oh.” Louis frowned at his clothes before shrugging. “Yeah no problem. I’ll be done by then with this. And I need to go meet Lottie as well and then go to Tesco. We’re out of milk. So I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Alright cool.” And with that, Niall was out, leaving Louis to fold and sort his clothes. Not that he would admit out loud, but rearranging his closet wasn’t so bad. Not that he would repeat the process any time soon. But this would be helpful.

*~~*

It took him another two hours to put all the clothes back into the closet and dust the remaining things in his room and he was finally done. His room looked cleaner than ever and he thought his desk even sparkled when the sunlight hit it. Or maybe it didn’t and Louis was exaggerating. His stomach gurgled and he remembered he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. He did have the late lunch he was meeting Lottie for but it wasn’t for another hour. He settled for grabbing an apple from the fridge and threw away the core before he re-entered his room. And yeah, it was purely strange to look around his clean room.

Louis had a few minutes to kill before he would have to change and leave the flat. And his eyes fell on the pair of jeans he had folded and laid carefully on his fully made bed. He had put on new sheets, flipped the mattress and everything. It was tiring but when he had jumped onto it, it was rewarding. Never would he do that again, at least not for a few more years if he had his way.

“Time to try you on,” he told his jeans and rolled his eyes at his behaviour. Louis could be really weird at times, but at least he was weird when alone. As he had expected, the jeans were a little difficult to pull over his arse but nothing a little jumping and pulling wouldn’t solve. It was a little snug on him but he looked gorgeous, if he said so himself. Even though he kind of understood why Niall said he looked like a fire engine. With the braces and jeans, he was hard to be missed so this look would never return again. Maybe the other pair of brown braces could be worn to work. He opened the camera on his phone, hoping to take a decent selfie which showed his entire outfit but failed. His arm just didn’t reach that angle, and the photo cutting him off past his waist. He took one anyway, just for himself where he pouted at the camera. He may have to ask Niall to take his picture. Speaking of...

“Niall!” he yelled while exiting his room. He pushed his hair back with one hand, walking dramatically into the living room only to find it empty. His smouldering pose was wasted then, but where was his friend. “Niall, are you still home?”

“In the shower!” came the reply and Louis turned his head towards the source. Now that he tried to, he could hear the faint trickling and the familiar creak of their shower. Niall hadn’t started wailing yet and Louis hoped he didn’t start it now. He was tired out enough by his friend for the day. “Was there something important?”

“Not really,” Louis said in a louder voice as he fiddled with his braces. He held his arm far enough again but couldn’t get the angle right. Maybe he should wear this outfit again tomorrow and shave, just to make a side by side comparison. He was sure he would look like his nineteen year old self, since he had been told when he shaved he looked younger. If the picture came out good he might even post it on his instagram account, who knew. But right now he couldn’t keep waiting around for Niall to come out so might as well change. “I just wanted to show you that I can still fit in this outfit and look brilliant. Like I told you I would.”

“That’s great, Louis,” Niall replied. “Wait for a few minutes I’m almost done.”

“Nah I’m gonna head out.” Louis pulled on one strap and let it go, wincing when it snapped back. It hurt, of course it did and never would he do that again. He started towards his room but paused when he heard loud raps against the door. He frowned, turning around. “Niall, you’re expecting your band mates now, right?”

“Yeah let them in.”

“Alright,” Louis said in a normal volume, more to himself. For the next few second as he strode towards the door, he forgot he was wearing his old clothes that could make someone laugh. He only remembered when his hand was on the doorknob but it wasn’t as if he could just not open the door, right? It wasn’t as if he was naked. And he was a little proud of his outfit so he shrugged and went forward.

The door swung open to reveal Harry, one of the guys from Niall’s band. Of course it was Harry, Louis thought despondently. He was sporting a wide grin that faltered a little when he took Louis in.

“Hi,” he started with and then ended up stressing on the ‘i’ sound and dragging it for a good few seconds as his eyes bugged out. He descended into silence then but his lips stayed parted as his eyes raked over Louis’ body shamelessly and a bright red blush dusted his cheek. He blinked slowly, closing his mouth before his hand came to run through his hair as he looked up at Louis’ face again. The seconds tricked slowly by and Louis felt himself get embarrassed by the second. It wasn’t the unsettling kind of a stare but it was long enough that Louis shifted from foot to foot.

“Harry,” he said, breaking the silence and Harry actually jolted and squeaked. It was cute, really but it didn’t make Louis crack a smile when it usually would. “Good to see you again.”

“Louis,” he drawled, blinking in confusion before his face coloured more than before. “Um this old lady needed help carrying his bags to the waiting taxi and I helped her. And slid in the open doors and came up here without buzzing first. Hope that’s alright?”

Louis laughed, shaking his head and feeling a little less embarrassed than before. He wondered why Harry was telling him this and apologising on top of that but he let it slide as always. Harry always talked like this, told him things that were unnecessary. He was an endearing type of weird. At least to Louis he was. “It’s fine. Come in. Niall’s in the shower.”

“Oh?”

“He’s not wailing like an animal today so you’re lucky.”

Harry nodded shakily, lips pursed as if he understood the struggle even though Louis was certain he hadn’t heard Niall’s shower voice before. Louis nodded as well as he stepped away from the door to let Harry in.

“You know barn owls are silent creatures more or less but when they shriek, it’s enough to scare you shitless,” Harry said quietly as he toed off his shoes. Louis raised his eyebrows and watched the other man. He didn’t know what he was on about. “But a red fox, when he shrieks or screams, it can either be a warning or when they want to mate.”

“Yeah?” Louis asked, smiling unknowingly. Harry looked up at him with hesitancy in his eyes as he nodded once and straightened his posture. “That’s fascinating to know, Harold even though I don’t know why you were telling me that. But I have to go back to my room to change.”

“Change?” Harry asked, biting his lower lip as his eyes lingered on Louis’ braces. “But why? You look good like this.”

Louis laughed, not knowing what to say as he shook his head and spun on his heel. He could feel eyes on him but he kept walking forth. It was just because Harry was an unsettling person in general, or only Louis felt that because he was attracted to the bloke. He was charming when needed to be but when it was just the two of them, which was only a few times since Niall’s weekly band practises started, he was just unsettling. He fumbled over words, stared for too long and spoke weirdly in general. Louis liked of it, of course he did but it also left him confused as to why. Why was Harry like this around him?

And he almost didn’t notice Niall’s favourite sparkly duster until he almost tripped over it in his haste to walk away from Harry.

“Fuck,” he cursed when he stumbled. He glared at the offending object before crouching down to pick it up. Over his shoulder was an odd squeak sound and he found Harry staring at him, eyes wide and lips parted. What even, he wondered as he stood up again. He threw Niall’s duster over the couch with a huff, feeling annoyed by the minute. Of course Harry liked his outfit. Of course. “Niall, you need to pick up your things. You’re not a child anymore.”

“Sorry Lou!” yelled Niall, even though Louis hadn’t specified what was on the floor. Still he accepted it as he walked quickly to his room and shut the door behind him and locked it. His cheeks were red (which matched his outfit) and he was just a little annoyed with Harry right now. The man never paid as much attention to him as he did today, which was just great really. Of course this outfit from his college days, where he probably still looked like a ‘twink’ would garner Harry’s attention. Well Louis wasn’t going to like any of it, of course, even if he always craved for Harry’s attention in general. He was going to fight it.

Deciding so, Louis changed out of his tight clothes into a looser pair of jeans and an oversized hoodie. This would have to do he thought, flattening his hair before stepping out of the room. He saw that Niall and Harry had taken to sit on the couch, with Harry strumming his guitar. It was strange that Louis hadn’t noticed it before, maybe he had left it by the door but he saw it now. Harry was also wearing a weird Hawaiian shirt along with his usual skin-tight jeans, folding his legs awkwardly on which his guitar was balanced. Neither of them noticed as Louis entered the room and walked towards the door.

It was only when he had put his shoes on and turned, intending to ask Niall if he wanted something when he saw Harry was staring. Like staring very intensely, eyebrows furrowed and bottom lip jutting out in a pout. What did he mean?

“You changed,” Harry said, almost petulantly. Louis frowned and tilted his head to the side as he waited. Niall had now noticed Louis’ presence there, eyes flitting between him and Harry before chuckling into his fist. “And you’re leaving.”

“Well noticed Harold,” Louis teased and smiled, when he had decided to not do just that before he walked out the room. Oh well his will was weak when Harry was concerned. He stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jeans, arching his eyebrows. “I’m meeting with my sister and that outfit was a little tight, wasn’t it? Also Niall, do you want something? Gonna swing by Tesco later on.”

“We’re out of milk,” Niall said as he tapped his chin.

“I know Niall, that's why I’m going,” Louis said slowly and refrained from rolling his eyes. He kept his eyes only on his friend and didn’t let himself look at Harry, who was pouting like a child. Honestly, he was so strange did anyone ever get him? “Anything else?”

“Nah just bring some ice cream for Harold here,” he said, nudging Harry and laughing. Harry made an offended squawk before he turned to glare at his friend. There was clearly an inside joke here, which Louis care nothing about. Okay he might care a little, but not enough to ask them about it. And judging by Harry’s very red face, it wasn’t something he wanted to tell either.

“Okay,” Louis murmured, dragging the word and Harry spun to look at him again. He was biting his bottom lip again, still red and a little anxious.

“Louis, are you coming to see us perform?” he asked, earnest and open. Louis stopped short, blinking in confusion. He came to the pub to see their performance every Saturday so he didn’t know why Harry would specially ask. But it still made something flutter in his stomach, some treacherous thing called hope making its presence known and Louis smiled, cheeks heating up slightly.

“Of course Harold, I will.”

“That’s great!” Harry chirped and aimed a brilliant smile at him, wide enough to knock Louis breathlessly. He laughed nervously as he pushed his hair off his forehead and turned, lest he said or acted like he was affected by Harry. Nope the man was only showing interest due to the outfit, which should have been left unused in the back of his closet. But he wasn’t going to fight Harry, if this was what it took. With a loud ‘bye’ over his shoulder, he closed the door behind him. If he wasn’t mistaken, he heard Harry’s loud groan and Niall’s cackle of laughter. He still didn’t understand what their inside joke was about.

*~~*

Louis found the flat empty when he returned from Tesco, which wasn’t surprising really. He had expected them to be gone to set up anyway so he shut the door behind him and walked to the kitchen to set their bags. Niall would unpack them later since they had a deal. Louis brought home groceries and Niall cut out his squabbling about ‘that’s not where it goes you upset my whole order of things’ and put it away himself. It was a sweet deal. Louis had to leave quickly now if he wanted to make it on time but he still pushed the couch back in its place and straightened the pillows. They had probably shifted it to accommodate Liam’s drums. Louis wondered if the cleanliness bug had really bit him once he finished the inspection of the room. He hoped not, but even if he had caught it, it would go away soon. It wasn’t as if it was a problem, right?

Louis walked into his bedroom to change for the third time this day, wondering if he should stick to his hoodie instead.

“It’s a pub night so take the opportunity to dress like you’re going to a pub,” Louis said aloud and shook his head. Maybe he should wear one of the shirts that he had dug out of the back, his band shirts. Or maybe he could just wear one of the plain black t-shirts along with his red braces and black jeans. He reached for his braces too before snapping out of it. “No you’re not the person to gain validation from someone you love by wearing braces. You’re not that desperate.”

Yet half an hour later as he walked out of his flat wearing his braces, Louis felt just that desperate. One last time won’t hurt him. It would be fine.

*~~*

Louis arrived at their regular pub some twenty minutes later. It was just a five minute walk away and there was no reason for him to be as late as he was but... he had shaved. He had taken time to shave and style his hair into a messy fringe for some reason. He had made a settlement and worn a white button down and brown braces, so as to be too desperate. And if someone (Niall) asked him if he had dressed up that way because he thought Harry might like it, he would deny it tooth and nail. It was definitely not on purpose. But he would say he wore it because it made him look like he hadn’t aged at all. It was the truth anyway.

Louis saw his friend up on the stage, which was basically a little elevated platform which was lit more than the rest of the pub. Every Saturday, Niall’s band (which only he called Flicker for some reason) kicked off the open mic night. They were an expected act and people gathered cheered so loud Louis asked them to just make music for money instead. But Niall went on about how they were practising a hobby and it wasn’t about money and Louis gave up.

They were that good and he was the first fan, so he could say. But then, he was there when the band was formed. It was just random how Niall was complaining loudly to Louis about how he could form a band right there and perform better than the one that won the X Factor last year. Outright started yelling really and Louis had been torn between laughing and shushing him. In the end, he gave in to his laughter as he watched Niall yell and call out for anyone who would love to join his band. And to Louis’ surprise, by the end of the night he had a band and a schedule formed with three other people. The first to approach them was Harry, with his friend Liam trailing behind him as they confessed they could play the guitar and drums respectively and also had free time. Then there Zayn who played the bass. Sure they had two guitar players and all of them had great vocals but they made it work. They would occasionally invite Louis to play the keyboard and he would accept, but only when he didn’t plan to sleep the Saturday morning away.

Louis pushed through the crowd and tried to catch Niall’s eyes, but his friend didn’t seem to plan to look his way anytime soon. But Harry did look over and his face lit up immediately, looking like the brightest thing in the place. He gave Louis a wide smile, the one that made his left dimple dig deeper into his cheek and eyes shone even in the dark-ish place. Louis didn’t know how to react, blinking at the man for a few seconds before bursting into laughter when Harry waved both his hands in an effort to catch his attention. It seemed to please the lad as he stopped waving but kept grinning. Harry was confusing, really was from the moment they met.

Harry was a tattoo artist, owned a shop down the street as well and Louis knew he was great at it. He was a tattoo enthusiast, just like Louis was and had a lot of tattoos all over his arms. Louis oftentimes tried to strike a conversation with him, flirted a little too but his advances didn’t get a response. Harry was kind of distant at times, and Louis was afraid he’d get rejected. So he stopped. But the moment he stopped, which was about two months back, Harry started his long, intense stares and it was confusing. What did he need, Louis would ask himself. And right now he found asking himself the same question. He raised one finger and pointed to his right before miming the act of drinking. Harry nodded gravely as if he understood but didn’t stop staring so Louis sighed and turned away, feeling the weight of Harry’s stare on him as he made his way past people to get himself a beer. He didn’t want anything strong today. He got his beer quickly and made his way to the front, where he always stood to get a better view of his friends. By now, Niall knew he was there too, throwing a wink at him before he grabbed the mic and started his usual speech about stuff. For some reason, the drunken patrons loved his speeches. Louis couldn’t relate but he smiled anyway.

 

Louis swayed to the music, bopping his head and mumbling along. They played four songs – one from each member – and even though they had different music tastes, the songs spun together beautifully. He kept his eyes on them and enjoyed the music rather than give attention to people staring at him. And it was a hungry gaze, he could tell. Louis knew he was objectively a fit man, but he also knew the added attention was due to his outfit. He hated it, hated their lustful, assuming eyes on him but it was his choice to wear, wasn’t it? Besides when Harry noticed the braces, he turned red, eyes widening before he gave Louis a wide grin and a thumbs up. Louis smiled back, flustered by the attention and he toyed with the straps as he drank his beer. He shouldn’t be feeling as accomplished as he did when Harry gave him an unsubtle onceover, yet he was rather smug. He wasn’t even supposed to be trying to impress Harry anymore but oh well, if he didn’t say it out loud it wouldn’t be the truth.

Louis had an inkling that the last song of their set was Harry’s choice. He hadn’t ever been able to find a pattern to the songs he chose, since they went from fast-paced rock songs to slow, romantic ballads and he always threw a curveball with that. And the one playing right now was a slow, romantic ballad that probably was the perfect slow end. But also, Harry had turned himself in Louis’ direction to sing at him while he sang about ‘blue eyes’. He just kinda knew since Harry couldn’t be subtle if he tried right now. Any other day Louis would be beyond himself that Harry was serenading him, finally showing a little romantic attraction but not today. Today he was just annoyed and questioning whether his outfit had anything to do with it. Otherwise why would Harry serenade him just today, why not any other Saturday right? Wouldn’t be the first time really and he had grown a little jaded about it, but he was hating himself just a little. Or even self-sabotaging right now. Maybe he was being too intense about the topic and it might be that Harry had selected the song last week itself, which was why he had asked Louis if he’d be there. But he wasn’t being the most rational person right now, going in the direction of the bar to replace the beer he had just finished.

Harry thanked everyone when they finished the song and all of them walked off the stage. Louis could assume, since he had already taken off in the other direction before Harry could catch up him. He needed to be a little more buzzed if he wanted to face the other man and needed a few more seconds to think it over. Whatever had happened. As he was placing his order, a bloke slid up beside him to chat him up. He was a little taller than Louis was, well built and good-looking. And even though Louis wasn’t looking for anything tonight, he indulged the man anyway, smiling at him before he noticed how his gaze lingered on Louis’ braces. Of course, he thought as he rolled his eyes subtly and excused himself. He didn’t look back but he felt irritation bubble up his throat and he felt the intense need to scream. He left without taking his beer, searching for Niall in the crowd just so he could tell him he was about to leave. But before he could find his friend, he found Harry instead and the timing was really unfortunate.

“Hi Louis, you wore braces again!” Harry said joyously with a wide grin. His fingers reached out to touch the braces before he widened his eyes and quickly drew his hand back. Louis gave him a forced smile as he hummed, watching Harry bite his lip in return. “You look fit in it, obviously.”

“Thanks,” Louis replied flatly and Harry finally noticed that he was annoyed. He frowned, eyebrows pushing together as his bottom lip jutted out in a pout. Louis tried not to be affected by that, tried not to lose his anger.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m great,” Louis deadpanned and rolled his eyes. Harry’s frown deepened as he tried to reach out for Louis again, only for the latter to take a step back. “Everything is fucking great. You know, everyone loves when I wear braces, of course. I don’t get the particular appeal but they always assume me to be a bottom. As if I’m trying to look a stereotype or something. I mean can you even look like a top or bottom? Do clothes give off a vibe about your personal, sexual preferences? It’s just annoying when everyone is drawn to me, thinking hey this man would hate to top. I’m sure you think the same right now because I don’t know. But I sure as hell love topping as well because I’m fucking versatile!”

Harry flinched back, lips parting in shock and only then Louis realised how loud he had been. He had raised his volume the more he spoke until he was almost screaming his sexual preference, which was definitely not his intention. Neither was his intention to take his frustration out on Harry like that. The poor guy looked scared and guilty when he shouldn’t be. The anger that had welled up inside Louis just died like that and he took in a deep breath, feeling hollow inside. He felt more eyes on him, probably judging him this time but Louis couldn’t shake off the look on Harry’s face. So as irrational as it was, Louis threw his hands up in the air and marched out of the bar. No one followed him and everyone stepped aside to let him by. Louis was feeling the residual anger thrumming through him and making him restless, as he walked the way home. His hands were curled into fist, shame and regret filling up his insides but he kept walking forth. He needed to apologise to Harry but not right now, not when he was ready to blow up again.

Louis could only hope Harry would forgive him tomorrow.

*~~*

Louis woke up to a delicious smell wafting in through the door which was certainly rising from food and his stomach rumbled appreciatively. He turned over to bury his head in his pillow, certain that he had dreamt up the smell. Niall didn’t get up early on a Sunday morning, and neither did he cook before Louis forced him to. Yet, the smell was unshakable and as he sniffed the air more, he was sure he wasn’t dreaming it up. How could it be?

Louis opened his eyes slowly, noticing that his door was ajar when he had certainly shut it last night. Had Niall come back last night? But why would he open the door? With a few more questions rattling around in his head, Louis sat up and stretched before finally padding out the room. He had a fitful sleep last night, feeling guilty about his behaviour and in the moment, had stuffed both pair of braces in the back of the closet where they’d forever stay unused again. Louis rubbed his eyes and yawned as he walked into the kitchen and froze at the unexpected sight.

Louis kept blinking and frowned but the sight didn’t change. Harry was still there in the kitchen of Louis’ flat, wearing Niall’s apron (the one with a woman’s body printed on the front) as he flipped pancakes. He seemed oblivious to Louis’ presence, shaking his hips to a song in his head and smiled triumphantly as he placed a perfect looking, fluffy pancake on the dish. Louis’ mouth was watering due to the food but his heart was feeling full to Harry. Louis watched him, grinning at the sight. It took him a while to notice, but when Harry finally looked up, he froze and turned beet red in embarrassment. It was still cute so Louis laughed, watching Harry bite his lip and look intently at his hands.

“I didn’t expect to see you in our kitchen today,” Louis commented trying to sound casual but winced internally at the scratchy quality his voice had taken due to the lack of use. Harry looked up from underneath his lashes before he turned off the stove and wiped his hands on his apron. He suddenly realised how the apron looked and hurriedly took it off and it prompted Louis to laugh further. This was not how he envisioned his meeting with Harry going, certain Harry would be annoyed at him. “I see you’ve made food?”

“Yes,” he said suddenly, eyes wide and earnest as nodded. “I thought I should make breakfast for you as an apology, if I’ve ever objectified you or anything. It was never my intention and I am –”

“I’m sorry too,” Louis interjected, raising his voice so it could be heard over Harry’s quick rambling. Louis walked further in, noticing how Harry’s feet had turned inwards. “The anger wasn’t meant for you. You’ve never made me feel that way I swear, but I was just in a bad mood and you didn’t deserve it. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to –”

“Harry.” Louis pursed his lips as he walked closer. Harry didn’t move and it gave Louis the confidence to place his hand on the other man’s shoulder and squeeze. “Don’t apologise. It’s fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Harry smiled and his eyes brightened just a tad. He clasped his hands behind his back, holding the apron between his fingers still. He looked shy. “But I do mean what I said. You look fit in those braces. You look fit in general. I mean I’ve been trying to tell you from ages that I fancy you. I was planning to tell you yesterday, after I played you that song. But then you threw me off with the braces thing and god you look so hot. I couldn’t stop imagine you tying me up in them and –”

“Wait what?” Louis asked, blinking furiously as he tried to grasp Harry’s words. He was talking too quick again, words getting mumbled the more he spoke and Louis was just stumped. “You’re attracted to me?”

Harry snorted, nodding. “Since the moment we met. I thought you looked beautiful in the pub and Liam suggested if we join Niall's band then I could spend time with you and eventually ask you out. Or something I don’t know but yeah. I’ve been wanting to ask you out for ages.”

“Then why wouldn’t you flirt back?” Louis asked, thrown aback by Harry’s words.

“You were flirting?”

Louis laughed in spite of himself, shaking his head as he let his hand slid down Harry’s arm until he clutched his elbow. “From the moment we met. God we’ve been oblivious fools.”

“Big time,” Harry agreed with a laugh as he took a step closer. His hands came to rest on Louis’ waist, eyes flitting down to Louis’ lips. He leaned in, their lips brushing and they were about to kiss when Niall barged in.

“Ah finally ya fuckers,” Niall exclaimed with a cackle and it was loud enough to startle them apart. Louis clutched his heart as he glared at his offending friend, who wasn’t even guilty that he disturbed one of the important moments in their life. He looked rather smug, waggling his eyebrows at them as he picked one of the plates laid with pancakes. “Thanks, Harry for this. I’m so hungry. And Louis, you’re welcome.”

“Fuck off, Irish,” Louis hissed and Harry giggled, as if it was something funny. Louis bit his lip as he looked back at his grinning boy. “So?”

“Kiss me, you fool,” Harry murmured and not giving him a chance to respond as he cupped Louis’ jaw and pressed their lips together. Louis hummed into the kiss, tangling his fingers in Harry’s hair like he always wanted to. And it was every bit perfect as he had imagined it to be.

Some metres away, he could distinctly make out Niall’s laughter.

“Oh Liam, they finally sorted their shit,” he was saying loudly and Louis didn’t pay any heed to him.

*~~*

Harry really had a thing for Louis wearing braces. He hadn’t been kidding then, or exaggerating. Louis wore the braces to school on Tuesday, just for fun and when Harry saw him, he made a strangled sound. He also tried to pull Louis onto the couch by pulling on his braces and it made Louis lose his balance and topple over him in the most awkward way. It didn’t stop Harry, who immediately attached his lips to Louis’ neck and started biting.

“I need you to fuck me wearing those braces and nothing else,” Harry whispered against his neck and Louis almost wanted to laugh. And Harry, as if suspecting it, pulled on Louis’ braces and made them snap back. It hurt. “I’m serious.”

“That can’t be done, Harry,” Louis argued as he began unbuttoning his shirt. He made moves to pull his braces off his shoulders but Harry made a whining sound that was incredibly hot and grinded against his thigh. “Okay I’ll see what I can do.”

Harry grinned against Louis’ lips as he reached down to unzip his trousers. Louis couldn’t argue with that.

And the rest of the week, Louis kept wearing those braces and Harry was all too happy about it.

So when the next Saturday rolled around, Louis was all too content waking up with a mouthful of hair and arms wrapped around his boy.

“Louis, we need to get up,” Harry murmured as he tapped Louis’ arm. He made no move to free himself, rather sighing happily and leaning back into Louis’ chest. Now Louis hated waking up early on a Saturday morning, especially when he could just snuggle Harry instead. So he tightened his hold on his boyfriend and pressed his nose to Harry’s neck and made him giggle. “Lou, let go it’s past ten and I want to pee.”

“Sleepy time, don’t talk,” Louis grumbled and Harry giggled again, the sound sweet to his ears. He did quieten after that, not protesting until ten minutes later when he insisted he had to go to the bathroom. Louis reluctantly let go and turned over to bury his nose in Harry’s empty pillow. He probably fell asleep again as well, since the next thing he knew was Harry shaking him awake softly and the smell of scrambled eggs in the air. He hummed appreciatively and was awarded with Harry’s brilliant smile when he opened his eyes. “Hey you.”

“You look cute when you sleep,” Harry murmured as he leaned forward to kiss Louis’ lips, not caring about morning breath. Louis could taste mint on his tongue and smiling as he leaned back. “I’ve made you breakfast. Eat it when it’s hot.”

“Eat in bed?” Louis asked sleepily and Harry nodded, nudging Louis' hip until he sat up. Sliding in beside him, Harry placed a tray of food on his legs. Louis should brush his teeth, he knew but he didn’t feel like moving just yet so he picked up his cup of tea and sighed when it was made just right. Of course it took Harry less than two days how to make Louis’ tea perfectly while Niall still grumbled it was difficult to please him. Louis hadn’t said ‘I love you’ to Harry yet, mainly because it was too early for that. But he found his way to say it without saying it. “I’d like to marry you someday.”

Harry just laughed, not seeming deterred by the prospect and Louis crinkled his eyes as he smiled. “Of course, sweet creature.”

“You think calling me that is cute,” Louis said sternly, trying to seem serious and failing when Harry brought his dimples out. “But it isn’t.”

Harry hummed in response, eyes twinkling fondly as they ate their breakfast quietly. Another thing Louis liked about them is that once they had talked about their attraction to each other, their time together was no longer awkward. There was no need to fill every gap with words and there was no longer need for Harry to insert interesting facts to impress Louis. Yes he was doing that to impress Louis, as he had learnt later on. “Your sister is meeting you at one for lunch, by the way.”

“Meeting me for lunch?” Louis asked around a mouthful of food. And it told him how whipped Harry was when he just scrunched his nose up and smiled instead of complaining about it. Once Louis had finished chewing, he swallowed. “Did she call? And how do you know, because I hadn’t planned it before.”

“Um yeah,” Harry replied with clear hesitance in his voice. His eyes darted all over Louis’ face before he looked away and stuffed the remaining of his eggs in his mouth and chewed it extremely slow. For someone who was trying to lie, he was doing a very bad job. So Louis kept staring at him until he broke. It took him just twenty eight seconds. (Yes he counted.) “Alright fine. I called her and asked her to keep you out of the house when we practise. Don’t be all suspicious about it.”

“And now I am suspicious.” Louis narrowed his eyes and tried his best not to smile, even though he was tempted to when Harry swallowed nervously. Harry was looking at him with wide, pleading, guilt filled eyes and Louis took all of two minutes to break into laughter. Still, he lasted that long with difficulty. “I’m not mad, if that's what you’re worried about.”

“You’re not?” Harry asked, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. Honestly, he was too adorable to be real. And instead of answering, Louis simply set his empty placed aside and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on his boyfriend’s lips.

“Of course not, silly. Why would I be?”

Harry laughed nervously as he picked Louis’ plate and placed it on the tray and stood up. He stumbled a little, since of course he did and grinned. “Okay, Lou. Thank you for agreeing. But don’t ask me why I don’t want you here.”

Louis hummed, biting on his lower lip as he watched Harry stagger to the door. He hesitated a little. “Okay Haz, I won’t ask why you’re asking me to leave when I know you’re planning to dedicate a song to me.”

Harry spun immediately, knocking the tray into the door and hunching into himself to avoid the plates from clattering on to the floor. When he looked up, his face was red till the tip of his ears and Louis laughed. Of course Harry was that clumsy. “How did you know?”

“You’re not subtle, Harry, not in the least. Your face gives everything away.”

“Not everything,” Harry protested with a petulant jut of his bottom lip before he raised his chin and walked out the door. Lucky for him, he didn’t crash into the door again. Louis shook his head and pushed his feet off the bed. If he was to go out, he needed to take a shower. He should convince Harry to join him.

*~~*

Louis reached at the pub fifteen minutes before the show started. It wasn’t early enough for him to drag Harry to the bathroom for a quickie but it was early enough for him to leisurely himself something to drink. Actually, even if he had been early he wouldn’t have been able to drag Harry off somewhere since Lottie had invited himself over to the pub with him. she claimed to be excited over the guy who Louis was smitten by for months while she didn’t know anything about until he called her and introduced himself as Louis’ boyfriend. She had seem annoyed that Louis hadn’t told her anything about it but Louis had just wondered when Harry had gotten the opportunity to steal Louis’ phone and call Lottie. He thought of himself as attentive but he guessed Harry was just sneakier like that.

Lunch had consisted of Lottie actively grilling Louis with questions about Harry and reducing him into a blushy mess. She took great amusement in it too, especially since Louis was never flustered due to someone. Or flustered this much. And as siblings usually were, Lottie took great pleasure in embarrassing Louis. She also wondered out loud how odd it was that braces of all things had brought them together.

“Excuse you, I look great in braces,” Louis exclaimed, as he placed one hand on his chest. She laughed disbelievingly. That was just rude, now. “Besides, it just prompted him to take the first step. He liked me back from months.”

“Yeah I got all that but braces are so lame. They’re like very 1920s.”

“Thank you so much, Lottie. For insulting both Harry’s and my taste in clothes.”

After lunch, Lottie had taken him shopping for some reason and then insisted he bought some ‘nice clothes’. He protested those words a lot. And it wasn’t as if Louis had an aversion to shopping but he didn’t feel the need for it when they could have simply napped in Lottie’s flat. He was tired this week too. And when he had voiced out the thought, she had laughed and called him an old man. Louis wondered why, after all her insults, she was his favourite sibling. Really. (not that the others were bad. It might be because they were closer in age.)

“Is he up on stage yet?” Lottie asked as soon as they had entered the slightly crowded pub. She lifted herself up on her tiptoes to see the stage but could barely see past the heads in front of her. Louis just laughed at her frustration while Lottie glared and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well? Is he up there? When will we meeting him? Because when we do I would love to tell him all about your weird haircut and bad fashion choices from your teen years. I have pictures.”

“Oh love, he loves my braces,” Louis said, pausing intentionally and a little dramatically to watch her narrow her eyes. “And you think it was one of my bad fashion phases. So I doubt he’ll laugh at my other clothes. In fact I think he’ll love it.”

Harry’s reaction would be unpredictable. Louis couldn’t say for sure he wouldn’t laugh, but there was a lot of confidence lathered on his words that convinced Lottie and she huffed in defeat really quick. Louis let the corner of his lips lift up and his sister smacked his arm hard that made him frown quickly. “Fine then. Just buy me some fruity drinks all night and we can call it even.”

“Alright,” Louis said, dragging the word and winked. He won, it was clear but he let her have her moment. Louis led her through the crowd carefully so he could buy both of them brightly coloured drinks. Sipping on their martinis, they made their way right to the front of the stage and found the band fiddling with their mics while Liam set up the drums. Harry was wearing a billowy, white shirt with ruffles on his collars that gaped enough to show off his smooth chest. The wings of the swallows on his shirt peeked out just a little. Louis had seen it all before, licked it too, yet he took his boyfriend in greedily and called himself lucky. He couldn’t believe he was dating the man who he was calling out of his reach just a week before. It just went to show that nothing was impossible. (All right it didn’t but he liked to think.) Sensing Louis’ eyes on him, Harry looked up quickly and his face lit up in a beautiful smile. The lights overhead were casting a shadow over his face that highlighted his jawline and made his skin look like it glowed. Well, he always looked like he glowed, a little more lately. Niall called it love, Louis didn’t deny it. Louis blew a kiss at his boyfriend and the other man laughed while Lottie, as if missing being the centre of attention, nudged Louis’ ribs. “Yeah that's Harry. He’s perfect, isn’t he?”

“Well, he is silly like you,” she commented and Louis tore his eyes away from Harry to glare at her. She just grinned back cheekily, waggling her eyebrows. “Well, sure he’s perfect. And I can’t wait to talk to him, just to ask how he handles you. Surely that's a difficult task.”

“Excuse me!” Louis objected, about to defend himself and Harry further when Niall cleared his throat and the sound echoed through the room. Right. Niall was looking right at him, carrying a mischief in his eyes that Louis was sure he’d seen a hint of the same in Lottie’s eyes as well. Louis was suspicious now, not knowing what he should be suspicious about.

But as soon as his eyes fell on Harry again and Louis was bless with his bi-dimpled smile, he felt himself fill up with love and no other feelings were left to bother him.

The band started with an upbeat song that Louis sang along to before shifting into songs of a slower tempo. It was usually that way and it put Harry’s songs at the end more often than not. And Louis was eagerly waiting which song Harry would dedicate to him. He was sure it would be some sappy love song he would love. He frowned in confusion when the band stopped playing after the third song and Niall cleared his throat into the mic again before turning to Louis and winked. Louis felt his confusion grow, especially since now Harry’s cheeks were flushed from more than the heat and he was staring at Louis intently. He was also looked uncharacteristically shy as he grabbed his mic.

“I know we usually perform covers since we rarely have time to sit together for more than a day and write,” he said into the mic, words slow and unhurried as he looked at the crowd instead of just Louis. There was a weak laughter from the crowd while Louis couldn’t breathe. Harry licked his lips, ducking his head and smiled. “Yeah, we’re not a real band. But the one I’m about to perform isn’t a cover. It’s a song that I wrote for my boyfriend. We have been dating for only a week. And yeah it might be too soon and I might come off as too desperate but, well he deserves to have songs written about him.”

“This will be fun,” Lottie whispered under her breath as her sharp fingernails dug into Louis’ bicep. He didn’t even flinch, but he was sure it would leave marks for later. He couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. So Louis kept watching with a slack jaw and elevated heartbeat, anxiously waiting as Harry started strumming his guitar. He didn’t realise until later that Harry was the only one singing. Niall was strumming his guitar along with Harry, giving the backing vocals while Liam and Zayn just smiling knowingly at Louis. He didn’t notice them but Lottie later told him they were.

Louis blinked, closing his mouth and turned to narrow his eyes at his sister. It was a delayed reaction. “Wait. You knew he was going to  _sing me a song?”_

Lottie gave him a look before shaking her head solemnly and sipping her drink. “How do you think Harry convinced me to spend another Saturday afternoon with you? Now shut up and let me listen to the song about you.”

Louis couldn’t argue with that, so he held in his objections and turned to look at his boyfriend and smiled. For god’s sakes they had been calling themselves the other’s boyfriend that just this week and this was intense and sudden. But at the same time, Louis loved that Harry wrote him a song, even if he hadn’t heard it and listened intently when he started singing.

“Sweet Creature,” Harry drawled and Louis wanted to laugh. Of course. Harry had a smile tugging at his lips, eyes twinkling knowingly while Louis just shook his head and beamed back. “Had another talk about where it’s going wrong.”

The song was soft and sappy, because of course it was. The slow tune combined with the honey sweet drawl of Harry’s voice made it the most beautiful thing to grace his ears. Okay Louis might be called biased since the song was written about him after all, but everyone around him agreed as well it seemed. The song _was_ too domestic for two people dating for a week but he could see in the coming few years that it would be suited for them. But it still resounded within him, even though he hadn’t been keen at the idea of being called ‘sweet creature’ just this morning, he was warming up to it. By the very end Louis was crying a little, sniffling and wiping his cheeks before anyone could see. He gave Harry a bright smile and a thumbs up and Harry reacted with a giggle.

Niall was the one to thank the crowd and they left the stage quickly, with Harry headed straight for him. Louis handed Lottie his glass and waited for Harry to give Niall his guitar before grabbing him by his neck and pulling him into a rough kiss. Harry was grinning when Louis pulled back and Louis grinned back.

“You wrote me a song,” he whispered, almost unable to believe. Harry nodded and bit down on his lip, shyly. After everything, he was shy. Harry still confused him for sure.

“Did you like it?”

“Did I like... Harry, I loved it! How could I not.” Louis said truthfully. “It’s too sweet, too domestic and too soon yes but it’s the embodiment of you. All the things you say, you’ve just put them in with a tune and I love it.

Louis heard Lottie coo beside him, probably mockingly but when he looked at her, her smile was genuine. Louis picked the drink out of her grasp and finished the rest of it in one big gulp. Liquid courage and all that, even if he didn’t need that. his mouth tasted too sweet and he felt just a little dizzy but Harry wouldn’t mind. “And I love you.”

To describe the smile that overtook Harry’s face at those three words would be inconceivable. Louis felt like he was dizzier due to the intensity of it, and felt like he was floating when Harry spoke next. “I love you too.”

And then subsequently, pulled Louis into another kiss, while a fast-paced rock song that was totally incompatible with their soft kiss, played in the background. He could hear laughter from his friends, wolf whistle from Niall and when they kissed too long, Lottie made gagging sounds. Louis couldn’t care. It was perfect and everything he ever wanted.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh and the inside joke between Harry and Niall was that Harry had just been whining about how Louis looked so hot he wanted to cry hence Niall said to bring the ice cream.  
> FYI, Louis misinterprets when he thinks people think he's a twink. They stare cuz he's looking hot since just imagine Louis in a button down and braces. I wish he actually wore that tbh.  
> Kudos and comments are appreciated.  
> You can find me on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/rainbowslovehl) come and say hi (oops!)  
> Rebloggable tumblr post is [ here ](http://rainbowsandlovehl.tumblr.com/post/176205588628/love-you-to-want-me-by-rainbowslovehl)


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